Regulation and Governance of Agricultural Biotechnology: GMOs
in Australia and the United Kingdom

David
Gibbs is working on a AUS$190,000 research project together
with two Australian colleagues Chris Cocklin (James Cook
University) and Jacqui Dibden (Monash University). The project on
will run for three years from January 2008 and will explore the
contested area of genetically modified organisms in the
agricultural sector in both countries, especially looking at
debates over whether competitive regional strategies are best
served by adopting GMOs or going for a 'clean and green'
approach.

The development of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is
currently positioned as one of the most significant and contentious
societal debates globally. Its significance arises from the
perceived economic benefits to regions and nations that can
successfully capture competitive advantages in research and
development, counterposed by the possible threats to human health,
long-term agricultural productivity, the pursuit of other
competitive strategies for agriculture (e.g., organics), and the
environment. This research proposal goes to the very heart of these
issues. Extending the investigators' ongoing programmes of work
involving the use of regulation as a theoretical and analytical
construct, the project is concerned with the development, social
contestation, growth and regulation of the biotechnology sector,
specifically GMOs in the form of seeds, crops, animals and foods.
The research will examine the interplay between the suggested
benefits of adopting and encouraging the new technology and the
negative aspects that may also arise, and the attempts that have
been made through regulation and governance to mediate the debates
and manage the associated risks.

An analysis of the governance and regulation of GMOs in
Australia and the UK is the central purpose of the proposed
project. The specific elements of the research will be an analysis
of:

The social and policy debates, in both Australia and the UK,
surrounding the development of GMOs. The role of particular actors
(e.g., transnational companies, consumers, food and fibre
producers, NGOs) in policy, governance and regulation in relation
to GMOs.

How the state, operating at a range of geographic scales
(local, regional, national), is responding to both the
opportunities and threats presented by GMOs, and how this
intersects with government agendas relating to economic
competitiveness and environmental and social sustainability.

The characteristics of the social contestation surrounding the
development of GMOs and the negotiation, resistance and
implementation of regulation at local and regional scales in both
the Australian and UK contexts.

The way in which the regulatory responses and mediation of
conflicts by the Australian and UK governments have been shaped by
the different institutional and policy environments in these two
countries, and the implications of these public debates and
regulatory responses for the capture of competitive
opportunities.